Interference Random Music Talk Part XV - We're using Charlie Rose tinted glasses

[LMP]

When I listened to Chrome a few weeks ago, it sounded a bit like Axver music to me. The major difference being that track 1 isn't still going.

No, Catherine Wheel's listenable, and they don't have a song and/or album titled "This Is Permanence," which is a plus.

 

[No spoken words]

Yeah, I've listened to some Axver music and there is a gap here. I mean, if people don't like CW so be it but, yeah.

 

[No spoken words]

His rationale? He spent every waking moment of the '90s a matter of yards away from Stephen Malkmus' crotch.

...Yeah, still don't see the appeal.

This triggered laughter from deep within.

 

[cobl04]

It took you 20 listens to get into Exile on Main St.? Exaggeration maybe? That seems like a very high number to me.

And if it takes you 20 listens to get into London Calling, something's wrong.

twenty is probably exaggerating a bit, but it was at least 10 before i really enjoyed it.

just to clear the whole '20 listens' thing up, i'm not saying i would listen to an album i hate 20 times because i'm desperately hoping i'd come around to it. but when i first listen to an album, there might be a number of songs i think are good (and redeeming, and will make me come back to the album and listen to it again) and a number that i didn't like. but by listening to it a few times, i can get into the whole album.

Amnesiac is one of the albums that i don't listen to despite the fact i quite like two or three of its songs.

I can understand the comparison on the basis that both albums are long and boast a handful of standouts surrounded by uniformly strong deep cuts.

is what i was getting at.

I throw this out often, but I think it's important to always remember when you're listening to a "classic album", that a lot of the sounds, themes, etc. are likely somewhat common in music these days. You have to try to remember what music was like when it came out, and what respective scene it was coming from or targeted to.

yep, good point. this is something that never really crosses my mind though because as Ashley said, i wasn't alive and it's hard to imagine.

This is probably the biggest reason why the Beatles will never be a favorite band of mine.

same with me. i've got Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Peppers, The White Album and Abbey Road and i can safely say i don't think they're as amazing as most people seem to think. Revolver is one of the most overrated albums ever, in my opinion. having said that, Abbey Road would be in my top ten ever.

 

[No spoken words]

twenty is probably exaggerating a bit, but it was at least 10 before i really enjoyed it.

just to clear the whole '20 listens' thing up, i'm not saying i would listen to an album i hate 20 times because i'm desperately hoping i'd come around to it. but when i first listen to an album, there might be a number of songs i think are good (and redeeming, and will make me come back to the album and listen to it again) and a number that i didn't like. but by listening to it a few times, i can get into the whole album.

Amnesiac is one of the albums that i don't listen to despite the fact i quite like two or three of its songs.



is what i was getting at.



yep, good point. this is something that never really crosses my mind though because as Ashley said, i wasn't alive and it's hard to imagine.



same with me. i've got Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Peppers, The White Album and Abbey Road and i can safely say i don't think they're as amazing as most people seem to think. Revolver is one of the most overrated albums ever, in my opinion. having said that, Abbey Road would be in my top ten ever.

What albums comprise your Top Ten right now?

 

[cobl04]

What albums comprise your Top Ten right now?

Floyd - Dark Side
U2 - Achtung
U2 - JT
Who - Quadrophenia
Steely Dan - Aja
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
Beatles - Abbey Road
Floyd - WYWH
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Something for Kate - Echolalia

something like that anyway.

 

[No spoken words]

Floyd - Dark Side
U2 - Achtung
U2 - JT
Who - Quadrophenia
Steely Dan - Aja
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
Beatles - Abbey Road
Floyd - WYWH
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Something for Kate - Echolalia

something like that anyway.

Awesome, thanks for sharing COBL.

 

[Mr. V]

Steely Dan can gargle my balls.

 

[No spoken words]

Steely Dan can gargle my balls.

I'm sure they can, but, why would they want to?

 

[corianderstem]

I laughed too hard at that.

And I only say "too hard" because it spurred a coughing fit.

It was still worth it.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

If you constantly have to tell people that they "had to be there" to really appreciate an album, perhaps the album is not as good as you think it is (or want it to be).

agreed. it's like that "you don't get it" argument for pop and passengers. as much as i love them, you either like it or you don't. sure music can grow on people, but of course it's entirely possible the person just doesn't fucking like it. and that's okay.

No, Catherine Wheel's listenable, and they don't have a song and/or album titled "This Is Permanence," which is a plus.

that's still one of my favourite di titles ever, though i suppose it's mostly because it's the only inside joke i got.

 

[cobl04]

Steely Dan can gargle my balls.

hahahaha

i believe that's know as 't-bagging' though.

Awesome, thanks for sharing COBL.

no worries... do we share many in common?

 

[No spoken words]

hahahaha

i believe that's know as 't-bagging' though.


no worries... do we share many in common?

My top 50 would encompass the bulk if not all of your top 10. But, in just comparing top 10's, we have 2 in common, I'll let you guess which.

 

[Jive Turkey]

hahahaha

i believe that's know as 't-bagging' though.

Tea bagging

 

[Jive Turkey]

My favorite thing about the 90's besides AB is probably Catherine Wheel.

Didnt realize they were also popular in the states. I always though they were a random uk/canada deal

 

[cobl04]

Tea bagging

true. i'm very used to writing t-bag

 

[No spoken words]

Didnt realize they were also popular in the states. I always though they were a random uk/canada deal

They're not popular here, sadly. I just heard them on alternative radio in NYC while I was a college kid, when Ferment was released, and was smitten.

 

[u2popmofo]

They at least had some exposure, I remember seeing them on 120 Minutes, Alternative Nation, or whatever MTV was calling their "alternative" show at the time.

 

[No spoken words]

They at least had some exposure, I remember seeing them on 120 Minutes, Alternative Nation, or whatever MTV was calling their "alternative" show at the time.

Oh, yeah, it's not like they were 1,000 miles underground to the point that only Shouter had heard of them, but, they were not at any point "popular", which actually lead to their demise....they were trying to achieve more mainstream success and tweaked their sound accordingly, or so they thought....got rid of their bassist for their last album, etc, and dissolved soon thereafter.

I used to love 120 minutes.

 

[cobl04]

it's not like they were 1,000 miles underground to the point that only Shouter had heard of them

haha

 

[u2popmofo]

For some weird reason I recently remembered seeing (and laughing at) this on 120 Minutes one night way back when.

YouTube - Cibo Matto - Know Your Chicken (Video)

 

[the tourist]

About the whole liking albums thing earlier, I'll just say a lot of old albums blow me away a lot more than a lot of new ones. And not just because of the context of the time period in which it was released. I wish more albums nowadays sounded like some of those classics.

 

[bono_212]

yep, good point. this is something that never really crosses my mind though because as Ashley said, i wasn't alive and it's hard to imagine.

That wasn't quite my point. I can imagine it. I just don't think that that atmosphere about it is enough to make me like it on those standards alone. If I don't like the music itself, chances are I'm not going to like the album just because.

To stick with the Beatles example, the only song I can think of off the top of my head that I like just because of how innovative it was for its time is "A Day in the Life". But on it's own, without any of that factoring in, I do generally love Sgt. Pepper's.

Does that make sense?

 

[cobl04]

That wasn't quite my point. I can imagine it. I just don't think that that atmosphere about it is enough to make me like it on those standards alone. If I don't like the music itself, chances are I'm not going to like the album just because.

To stick with the Beatles example, the only song I can think of off the top of my head that I like just because of how innovative it was for its time is "A Day in the Life". But on it's own, without any of that factoring in, I do generally love Sgt. Pepper's.

Does that make sense?

ohhhh ok. yep i get you. i personally just never really think about context when listening to old albums. it's only after i'm starting to get into them that i think wow this is pretty awesome for its time.

only a select few, such as Dark Side and Aja, have really blown me away on first listen and had me thinking this is terrific for its time.

 

[bono_212]

ohhhh ok. yep i get you. i personally just never really think about context when listening to old albums. it's only after i'm starting to get into them that i think wow this is pretty awesome for its time.

only a select few, such as Dark Side and Aja, have really blown me away on first listen and had me thinking this is terrific for its time.

The only reason "A Day in the Life" had that effect is because I wasn't that familiar with it a few years back, and I took a rock history class (for my fine art credit of all things ) and we spent like a third of the class analyzing the structure of the song, only for the professor to remind us at the very end of it that the effect at the end of that song can now be replicated with a single button on a keyboard. THAT was kind of awe-inspiring. So, even though in general I'm not over the moon about the song, I love it anyways, because a thought like that really resonates with me.

 

[cobl04]

i wish i could take a subject like that at uni

 

[LemonMelon]

twenty is probably exaggerating a bit, but it was at least 10 before i really enjoyed it.

Well, it is a double album. You can save yourself with simple multiplication this time.

that's still one of my favourite di titles ever, though i suppose it's mostly because it's the only inside joke i got.

This Is Permanence was Axver's DI4 title, a tribute to his recently-passed grandfather, but the song the title came from sucked so much ass and the metaphor so muddled that I used a mangled version of it for my DI6 list, which contained music parodying his typical railfanning fare. In short: I'm actually pretty ashamed of it now, but it was funny as hell at the time. Laz would agree that context was the key to understanding that piece.

 

[bono_212]

i wish i could take a subject like that at uni

Easiest class I ever took. Showed up for every lecture save one, never studied any of the notes I took or the book, aced the class. It was a hell of a lot of fun, got to watch awesome concert footage and what not in a theater setting. Even watched some of PopMart in that class once. THAT was fuckmazing.

 

[bono_man2002]

Easiest class I ever took. Showed up for every lecture save one, never studied any of the notes I took or the book, aced the class. It was a hell of a lot of fun, got to watch awesome concert footage and what not in a theater setting. Even watched some of PopMart in that class once. THAT was fuckmazing.

Hates my engineering course right now....at least our teacher could show us how to design the stage or something!

 

[lazarus]

Please explain. For me, if an album can't transcend its era, it's not a true classic. Being able to pinpoint the era in which an album was created is not a flaw, but its context shouldn't overshadow the songwriting. Context is key to understanding why the production techniques of Sgt. Pepper were so innovative, but none of that explains the innovative songwriting structure and arrangement of A Day In The Life, nor the reason the album became a hit in the first place. I didn't need to know that Pink Moon was released in 1972 to hold the opinion that the songs contained within were incredibly haunting, though studying the environment in which the album was recorded does give its lyrics greater poignancy.

Well for instance, I think Dark Side of the Moon sounds incredibly dated. And if you're not open-minded to classic rock in general, I don't know that someone is going to see what the big deal is upon hearing it. Pet Sounds is another one. And perhaps Exile wouldn't sound like a big deal either. 1999 and Purple Rain are albums that were ahead of their time, but totally sound like a lot of shit that came after it that helped make the 80's so godawful.

By contrast, The Beatles' stuff sounds super-clean and crisp, and for the most part their instrumentation doesn't sound mired in a particular period (with the exception of the Moog stuff on Abbey Road). I think something like Zeppelin IV also holds up very well in this regard, and I think it would still impress anyone into big rock stuff. I don't know that a casual listener would understand the accomplishment of Aja, either, but then again hip hop artists sampled it so who knows?

And speaking of hip hop, beats and backing tracks become dated so quickly that what sounded cutting edge now might come off laughable, like old Public Enemy or Ice Cube.

Steely Dan can gargle my balls.

Dr. Wu > Mr. V.

For some weird reason I recently remembered seeing (and laughing at) this on 120 Minutes one night way back when.

YouTube - Cibo Matto - Know Your Chicken (Video)

Pizzicato Five > Cibo Mato.